An ensemble of opposition leaders got together today in Kolkata at a rally organised by Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, the BJP, with savage barbs. The rally was attended by several prominent opposition leaders, including Akhilesh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, MK Stalin, HD Deve Gowda, Farooq Abdullah, Shatrughan Sinha, Arun Shourie etc. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati skipped the congregation, but sent their representatives.
Here are the top 10 quotes at Mamata Banerjee's rally:
My appeal to you all is that please do not worry about who will be the next prime minister. We will figure that out later. But the job to be done right now is to defeat the BJP and Narendra Modi: Mamata Banerjee
People say these are leaders from different parties, different ideologies, they speak in different tones. Some time they sit together, some time they don't. We want to tell them-- in our diversity lies unity. And this is beauty of our country. We have different states, different languages, we even look different, but we are united, the country is united: RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav
The opposition has a few questions for you. Until you answer them, the public will continue to say that chowkidaar chor hai (the watchman is a thief): Shatrughan Sinha
BJP ne CBI, ED and baki agencies ke saath bhi gathbandhan kiya hai (Not just the CBI, ED but the BJP has formed an alliance with other central investigative agencies). And they know how to use them to their benefit: Akhilesh Yadav
Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are out to destroy the country... what Pakistan has not been able to do in 70 years, PM Modi and Amit Shah have done in 5 years... they have poisoned the minds of the people of India... Today, they have turned Hindu against Muslim and Muslim against Christians: AAP's Arvind Kejriwal
The prime minister is a publicity PM, but what we want is a performing prime minister: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu
The 2019 elections in India will be India's second freedom struggle. The BJP at the centre is sowing the seeds of hatred and division among people. We have to stop that any cost. That's why I call it India's second freedom struggle: DMK chief MK Stalin
EVM is a chor machine. We should meet the Election Commission of India and the President to urge them to stop the use of EVMs: National Conference's Farooq Abdullah
It is unfortunate that the Union government has turned deaf and mute to the needs of the people of the country: JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy
"The country is going through an unprecedented crisis with the exploitation of the poor, minorities and dalits in the four-and-half-year rule of the BJP: Jignesh Mevani
With inputs from agencies
